PLANNING approval has been granted for the development of 105 new homes on the site opposite BP neighbouring Basildon Town Centre.

The development will make use of a site that has been disused for in excess of ten years, creating development that will include associated parking, vehicle charging, cycle access, and capacity for green roofs and air source heat pumps.

The development will be delivered by the council's house building company Sempra Homes, with the plans having been developed and altered following extensive consultations with local residents – reducing the scale and the number of homes on the site.

70 of the homes will span across two apartment blocks of five and six storeys, with 35 apartments inside each. Additionally, there will be ten three-storey townhouses, twenty two-storey semi-detached houses, plus a two-storey terrace containing five houses.

All the homes will either meet or exceed national space standards – in a location conveniently neighbouring the town centre and the transport links of the nearby train and bus stations.

Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal, Cllr Andrew Schrader, said: "This will be a fantastic scheme that will create a vibrant transformative development on land that has been disused since way back in 2011.

"The spacious development will have different housing types and tenure options to provide choice for local residents. It will feature lots of greenery and eco-features to aid in our climate change ambitions.

"I'm extremely proud that we've got this project over the line through Sempra Homes, bringing the site back to life and providing much needed homes for local people."

Work on the development are expected to start this summer.